They say it’s better to give than to receive, so for those who are looking for an ethical Christmas gift for someone they love, this article may help.
There’s a growing choice available for those who want great gifts, but who also want to go one step further and help social enterprises and sustainability initiatives.
Here at Christmas.co.uk, we’ve done some searching and we have been really struck by Marmalaid which is marmalade inspired by Syria’s bitter oranges.
It’s a tasty treat at £4.70 from Abel and Cole with £1.50 going to a charity helping Syrian aid projects for every jar sold.
There’s also the increasingly growing popular Toast beer that’s made with the bread that is thrown away by the UK’s sandwich makers.
The beer is widely available from various outlets, including Tesco.
It’s a great way to utilise food waste since the brewery uses the crusts that sandwich makers discard because they can’t use them.
Also, for those who don’t like to waste paper, it has probably come to your attention that there’s very little in the way of recycled Christmas wrapping paper when it comes to wrapping your ethical Christmas gift.
However, there are some good ideas for those wanting 100% recycled Christmas wrapping paper alternative, including this list of ideas from Community Repaint about the Christmas wrapping paper alternatives you can use.
The issue of recycling Christmas wrapping paper is an important one because not all of it can be recycled.
Essentially, the wrapping paper that you use, if you can scrunch it up and it remains that way, then it can be recycled.
There’s also a way to help reduce the amount of plastic we use by switching to solid bars of soap, which are an increasingly popular and environmentally-friendly alternative to using single-use bottles of shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap. These are available from Friendly Soap.
If you fancy an iPad sleeve, then you’ll be helping refugees who’ve been taken on as part of a training and skills programme and enjoy a great ethical Christmas gift.
Also on the ethical clothes front, for those who want to reduce their environmental footprint and help reduce the environmental impact that comes from making clothes, then clothes and T-shirts are available from organic producers.
Most of these clothes makers also help with climate change emissions and refuse to use sweatshop labour.
For some ideas of an ethical stocking filler then, for example, there are some excellent organic socks from Greenfibres or ethical clothes from Know the Origin and Brothers We Stand.
